Platforms, Platform Categories, and Scrape As Explained

LaunchBox uses three related concepts to organize and identify systems: a Platform is the local system assigned to a game, a Platform Category is a browsing container, and Scrape As maps a local platform to an official LaunchBox Games Database platform.

The short version

• Platform: answers “which local system does this game belong to?” It affects library navigation, platform folders, and emulator associations.

• Platform Category: answers “where should this platform appear in the category tree?” Categories do not replace a game's Platform value.

• Scrape As: answers “which official database platform should LaunchBox use for matching metadata and media?”

The names do not have to be identical. For example, a local platform named My NES Collection can appear below Consoles, scrape as Nintendo Entertainment System, and use an emulator associated with My NES Collection.

What a Platform affects

Every game entry has one Platform value. That value affects:

• Where the game appears in Platforms and Platform Categories views.

• Which local platform name LaunchBox uses to find an emulator's Associated Platforms configuration.

• Which platform-specific game, image, video, manual, and music folders LaunchBox uses.

• The database platform used by metadata searches and downloads, after applying Scrape As.

• Platform artwork, videos, themes, and presentation in LaunchBox and Big Box.

• Platform-specific imports, ROM-folder monitoring, scans, and audits.

A Platform is therefore more than a visual folder. Changing it can affect launching, metadata matching, and media locations.

Manage a platform

Open Tools > Manage > Platforms..., select a platform, and choose Edit. The editor includes:

• Details: local title, Scrape As, system information, platform video path, and visibility options.

• Folders: the Games folder plus separate folders for image types, videos, manuals, and music.

• Notes and Documents: platform-level reference information.

• Parents: every location where the platform should appear in Platform Categories lists.

• Images: platform-level artwork, including platform clear logos and other presentation images—not individual game artwork.

Keep local platform names consistent. Even a small spelling difference can create another platform and can prevent an emulator association from matching.

What Scrape As does

Scrape As maps the local Platform name to an official LaunchBox Games Database platform. Use the official database platform that actually describes the games, especially when your local name is custom, abbreviated, region-specific, or cabinet-friendly.

Common examples include:

• A local platform named Famicom that should use the official Nintendo Entertainment System database context.

• Several custom local platforms that all represent subsets of one official system.

• A short display name that differs from the Games Database name.

When the local name is already recognized, select the same official platform if LaunchBox presents it in Scrape As. Internally, LaunchBox can also fall back to a recognized local platform name when no separate mapping is stored.

Scrape As is used primarily for Games Database matching and downloading. LaunchBox can also use the mapped official name as a fallback for some platform-level presentation resources, such as built-in icons, media, or theme views.

What Scrape As does not do

• It does not rename the local platform.

• It does not move games, ROMs, or media files.

• It does not place the platform into a category.

• It does not create or change an emulator association.

• It does not retroactively replace metadata already stored on existing games.

After changing Scrape As, use a later metadata search or metadata/media download when you actually want to correct existing game records.

Local Platform names and emulator associations

Open Tools > Manage > Emulators..., edit an emulator, and select Associated Platforms. These rows use the exact local Platform name, not the Scrape As value.

• Local Platform: My NES Collection

• Scrape As: Nintendo Entertainment System

• Emulator Associated Platform: My NES Collection

The Associated Platforms row can also mark that emulator as the default for the local platform and can supply platform-specific command-line parameters or a RetroArch core. Scrape As has no role in choosing that emulator.

Changing one game's Platform

Right-click a game and choose Edit Metadata/Media..., then change Platform on the Metadata page. If the new platform has a default emulator, the game editor automatically selects it. This also turns off DOSBox or ScummVM for that game and clears a per-game emulator command-line override when the selected emulator changes.

Before saving, inspect Launching > Emulation and confirm the emulator, custom command-line settings, and ROM path are still appropriate. Changing the Platform does not move the ROM.

Changing several games with Bulk Edit

Select the games, right-click, choose Edit, and use the Bulk Edit Wizard to change the Platform field. Bulk editing the Platform changes the games' Platform values and can offer to migrate their associated media into the destination platform's media folders.

Important: the bulk Platform change does not automatically replace each game's saved Emulator value. If the games also need another emulator, bulk-edit the Emulator field separately and verify a few launches afterward.

What Platform Categories do

A Platform Category is a navigation container. It can contain platforms, other categories, and playlists, allowing a hierarchy such as:

• Games

  • Consoles

  • Handhelds

  • Computers

  • Arcade

Selecting a category shows games from the items below it. The games remain assigned to their individual Platforms; the category is not written into each game's Platform field.

Create or edit a Platform Category

Change the sidebar's view selector to Platform Categories. Right-click in the category tree and choose Add > New Category..., or right-click an existing category and choose Edit.

The category editor has Details, Notes, and Parents tabs plus an Images panel. A category can have a unique internal name, a displayed nested name, a sort title, a video, images, notes, Big Box visibility, and one or more parents.

Use categories for broad navigation. Genre, region, series, source, and play status are usually better handled with metadata, filters, or playlists.

Multiple parents do not create duplicate games

The Parents tab allows a platform or category to appear below more than one parent. This can be useful, but it can also make the same platform—and therefore the same games—visible in several branches.

Those appearances are references to the same library items. Before deleting anything that appears duplicated, open a game and check its actual Platform value.

Platform folders: what changes and what does not

The Folders tab stores the platform's Games folder and its media folders. The Games folder is used as the platform's default location and by folder monitoring, added-ROM scans, and workflows that operate on that platform folder.

Changing the Game folder does not rewrite the Application Path saved on every existing game and does not move ROM files. If ROMs have moved, repair their saved paths separately. See Managing Game Files, Folders, and Paths.

When you change one or more media folders, LaunchBox can prompt to migrate existing game images, videos, manuals, and music to the new locations. Read that prompt carefully: accepting it performs file moves. Make a backup before changing several folders, and confirm the destination drive is available.

Renaming a Platform safely

Rename a platform by editing its Title under Tools > Manage > Platforms.... When the change is saved, LaunchBox updates the Platform value on its games, updates matching emulator Associated Platforms rows, and rebuilds the platform's parent relationships using the selections in the Parents tab.

A rename does not move ROMs and does not automatically rename every folder on disk. Existing Games and media folder paths remain the locations shown in the Folders tab unless you change them. After renaming, verify:

• The games appear under the new local Platform name.

• Each intended emulator has an Associated Platforms row for that new local name and the correct default setting.

• Scrape As points to the intended official database platform.

• The Parents tab places the platform in the intended category branches.

• Games and media folders still point to valid locations.

• A metadata search and a representative game launch both work.

Deletion risks

Deleting a platform is not the same as removing an empty visual folder. The platform deletion warning removes the platform and every associated game entry from the LaunchBox collection. LaunchBox then separately asks whether to delete the games' associated images, manuals, music, and videos; choosing Yes permanently deletes those media files.

The platform operation does not normally delete the ROM files themselves, but losing all library entries and optionally their media is still a major change. Create a Data backup first, confirm which games use the platform, and rename or reorganize the platform instead whenever that is your real goal.

Deleting a Platform Category is different: it removes that organizational category and its relationships, not the games' Platform assignments. Even so, review the hierarchy before confirming.

Common mistakes

• Accidentally creating two local platforms for the same system because their names differ slightly.

• Using Scrape As as though it were an emulator setting.

• Associating an emulator with the Scrape As name instead of the local Platform name.

• Bulk-changing Platform and assuming the Emulator field also changed.

• Changing the Games folder and assuming existing Application Paths were rewritten.

• Accepting a media migration without first checking the destination and backup.

• Deleting a platform because it looked duplicated in a multi-parent category tree.

A reliable beginner setup

1. Use official platform names when they suit your library.

2. Choose the intended official Games Database platform under Scrape As.

3. Associate emulators with the exact local Platform name.

4. Use a small number of broad Platform Categories.

5. Use playlists and filters for cross-platform collections.

6. Test metadata matching and one game launch before importing a large custom platform.

Keeping these responsibilities separate makes LaunchBox predictable: Platform Categories control browsing, Platforms identify each game's local system and configuration context, and Scrape As supplies the official database identity.